Chapter 234: Kenjaku: I Have to Escape, and Fast!
Strictly speaking, anything projected by Emiya has a time limit on its existence.
The specific breakdown of these time limits is fairly easy to understand: ordinary objects like chairs or kitchenware last longer than sword-type Mystic Codes and Noble Phantasms, while sword-type Noble Phantasms last far longer than any other category of Noble Phantasm.
When using [Projection Magecraft] to create ordinary kitchenware, their duration is calculated based on the consumption of magical energy, but they can often be maintained for months or even longer. The specific effect ultimately depends on the precision Emiya exercised during the projection.
As for sword-type Noble Phantasms intended for combat, no matter how high the difficulty of the projection, Emiya strives to maintain their accuracy to the point where they can last through a complete battle, just in case of an emergency.
For other types of powerful Noble Phantasms, the duration after projection drops sharply. Most are like Rho Aias (The Seven Rings that Cover the Fiery Heavens), which can only be maintained for less than a few seconds.
Fortunately, a few seconds is usually enough for most Noble Phantasms to complete their [True Name Release]. Thus, they can still play a vital role at critical moments, raising the practical utility of Projection Magecraft by several levels.
However, compared to their fleeting appearance during use, the production process for these powerful Noble Phantasms is many times longer and more complex.
Under normal circumstances, accurately projecting a sword-type Noble Phantasm takes about ten minutes, while projecting other types takes dozens of minutes or more; the time cost instantly multiplies.
However, if his storage only contained sword-type Noble Phantasms, it would be inevitable to encounter situations he couldn't handle. For instance, when facing a localized or wide-range long-distance attack from an enemy, Emiya requires Rho Aias to easily withstand it.
Given that the duration of a Noble Phantasm is so disproportionate to its preparation time, the reason Emiya can stockpile them in large quantities is, of course, thanks to that special [Reality Marble]—[Unlimited Blade Works].
It has been said that the Projection Magecraft exclusive to Emiya has completely transcended the original definition of the craft; it is more like a subspecies of [Marble Phantasm].
It allows him to use his own magical energy and magecraft to manifest fantasies held within his consciousness into the real world. Because the manifested items perfectly reference their true "Originals," these fakes can exist in the material world by deceiving reality.
However, while "The World" has not been proven to have a specific consciousness, it truly possesses an adaptive corrective force similar to a living being, which instinctively erases
"incorrect" things from existence. This is why Emiya's projected Noble Phantasms cannot be preserved for long.
Therefore, since "The World" rejects the existence of these projected fakes, one simply needs to store them in another world.
This is the most important effect of Unlimited Blade Works for Emiya. It possesses the concept of a world itself, so it can preserve these projected Noble Phantasms indefinitely until Emiya needs to use them.
The true meaning of "Unlimited Blade Works" is that Emiya can infinitely project and pour blades and Noble Phantasms into it, all the way to the boundless end of that world.
That is why it is said that as long as there is enough time, there is no enemy Emiya cannot counter. He has already witnessed countless types of armaments in the memories of many "Shirou Emiyas," and together, they form an unavoidable specialized attack (Special Attack) against all kinds of enemies.
At this point, the only factor limiting this Projection Magecraft was that these Noble Phantasms could not exist in the world for long.
To solve this limitation, didn't that "Emiya Alter" develop a perfect method of use?
[Unlimited Lost Works]. This special technique involves firing the Reality Marble into the enemy's body before expanding it. Because it is a special expansion method involving an internal-external inversion, the Unlimited Lost Works erupting from within the enemy can simultaneously release all the Noble Phantasms stored inside in an instant. This includes items like Gae Buidhe or Rule Breaker, which aren't particularly strong as weapons but are extremely specialized.
Under such a chaotic release of Noble Phantasms, any form of enemy finds it difficult to escape the fate of total annihilation—this is the miraculous move developed by Emiya Alter, the efficiency-obsessed pragmatist.
In Emiya Alter's eyes, any weapon is a good weapon as long as it can kill the enemy. The same logic applies to the enemy: any enemy is a good enemy as long as they don't move after they're dead.
The reason Mahito didn't die instantly after tanking Unlimited Lost Works back then was partly because his body and technique were unique, and partly because Emiya—having just arrived in this world—hadn't had time to fill his Reality Marble with many Noble Phantasms.
Had Emiya possessed a few Noble Phantasms of the same type as Gae Buidhe in his reserves at that time, Mahito would have perished along with his soul the moment the attack landed.
Even now, Emiya has not completely solved the problem of these Noble Phantasms' inability to persist in the outside world for long. For a Noble Phantasm like Gae Buidhe, this is the most fatal flaw of all.
It doesn't have much raw power as a weapon; its sole curse is making the enemy's wounds unhealable. This persists until the Noble Phantasm itself is destroyed; otherwise, even the wielder cannot actively dispel it.
If he simply projected this Noble Phantasm, then even if Emiya used his [Forging] technique to perform a secondary modification with cursed energy, he could at most extend its duration to about one minute—virtually useless in a high-intensity battle like this.
So, in reality, this Gae Buidhe (The Yellow Rose of Mortality)... was actually a replica forged by Emiya's own hands and then stored within the Reality Marble.
This was Emiya's first time ever attempting to forge a Noble Phantasm by hand. Previously, even though he knew the history of how the Noble Phantasms were crafted through Projection Magecraft, he never had the actual ability to try it.
Knowing a musical score and being able to play the piano elegantly are two different concepts.
Without Senji Muramasa's guidance and his own continuous efforts—along with the fact that his [Forging] technique can, to some extent, simulate the history of a Noble Phantasm—Emiya would never have been able to achieve this. Every one of these conditions was indispensable.
However, because it is impossible for Emiya to perfectly rewrite the original Noble Phantasm, something had to be sacrificed. To ensure the life-shaving curse on the blade wouldn't be too affected, Emiya naturally chose to reduce the durability of the Noble Phantasm itself.
A Noble Phantasm that was originally difficult to destroy by physical means has now become as hard as an ordinary weapon, making it easy to break in high-intensity combat.
But the solution to this problem is quite simple, isn't it? Emiya just needed to toss the spear to his students in the distance for safekeeping, while he continued to fight the already-wounded enemy himself.
.
.
.
"A life-shaving curse that makes injuries never heal...?"
Kenjaku subconsciously repeated the effect of the Noble Phantasm Emiya had described, then looked down at his wound, currently being held together by writhing centipedes.
He could feel it. His wound was indeed being affected by some strange power; not only were healing abilities failing to trigger, but even his body's natural repair functions weren't working at all.
the human body is actually quite miraculous; even if you are hacked in half at the waist, as long as you can maintain the position of all organs without moving them an inch, the body's self-repair function can fully restore the severed organs and wounds within dozens of days.
The principle behind [Reverse Cursed Technique] is to use positive energy to replenish a person's vitality, and then accelerate this natural self-repair capability to fix wounds.
Everything in the body was operating normally, and he could perceive this hideous, life-threatening wound, yet not a single bit of recovery work could be initiated.
The only thing Kenjaku could do was use these insects to tightly clamp the damaged wound shut to prevent the terrifying blood loss from causing him to go into shock and die from exsanguination within seconds.
"That's right. That is the curse—it makes all wounds it inflicts unhealable.
There is, of course, a solution, but there is only one: you must completely destroy the physical Noble Phantasm itself. Only then can the curse on the wound be lifted.
Otherwise, even a tiny scratch from Gae Buidhe's power can cast a person into prolonged agony until they die."
Emiya revealed Gae Buidhe's only weakness without hesitation, and his meaning was quite clear.
Emiya wanted Kenjaku to know that his only way to deal with his heavily injured state was to stay and fight head-on to destroy the spear. Escaping and trying to fix the wound with other means would be meaningless.
However, for a guy like Kenjaku, there was actually one way to solve the problem quickly and simply: abandoning Suguru Geto's body.
After all, Gae Buidhe's curse was attached to Suguru Geto's flesh, not Kenjaku's true form... As long as he was willing to change bodies, the curse he carried would naturally remain with Geto's remains.
No matter which option Kenjaku chose, it would be beneficial to Emiya. And Kenjaku had certainly already envisioned this problem and Emiya's calculations.
"So the curse can only be lifted by destroying the weapon itself..."
Kenjaku instinctively glanced toward Fushiguro Megumi, who was clutching Gae Buidhe tightly in the distance. Just as he was considering whether to try and destroy the Noble Phantasm in the boy's arms, Mahoraga stepped decisively in front of Fushiguro.
Kenjaku no longer had the ability or means to fight Mahoraga directly. The goal of retrieving and destroying the Noble Phantasm under the multi-layered protection of Emiya and Mahoraga was clearly too cold a prospect.
"That's it. Your only choice is to destroy Gae Buidhe itself, or you can simply slink away like a coward.
As for whether you'll eventually die for some ridiculous reason like severe trauma or blood loss, I have no way of knowing."
Under the premise of having bound the opponent with a curse, nothing stopped Emiya from continuing to try and control and provoke him with words. As long as Kenjaku abandoned the will to flee and stayed to fight, Emiya naturally had countless ways to deal with him.
After all, Emiya had analyzed their previous fight during the rescue of Mechamaru more than once. For every ability Kenjaku had used, Emiya had prepared specific countermeasures.
"I'm really being held hostage here... I can't fix the wound or leave without destroying that weapon?"
Kenjaku was frantically weighing the pros and cons to decide whether it was more worthwhile to stay and try to destroy Gae Buidhe or simply flee. Emiya had already researched all of his combat methods, but for Kenjaku, he still had no idea just how powerful the current Emiya had become.
Usually, he was the one using information advantages to deal with others. Who would have thought that one day, he too would fall into someone else's rhythm due to a lack of intelligence?
But there was at least one thing Kenjaku was quite sure of: in his current state, he stood almost no chance in a direct confrontation with Emiya. Whether fighting Jogo, Hanami, or Dagon, the current Emiya could resolve them in an extremely short time—something Kenjaku still couldn't do.
No matter what, judging a person's true combat power by actual battle results was never wrong.
Decision made: he had to retreat for now. Or rather, he had to escape.
After assessing the situation, Kenjaku immediately made this decision that went against his "ancestral" pride.
After all, in his current plan, everything that needed to be completed had already been completed. Even if he wanted to absorb Jogo and Dagon's techniques, those gains would merely be icing on the cake.
To risk his life fighting for a bit of "icing" was absolutely not worth it, nor was it something a guy like Kenjaku would do.
Even if defeating Emiya was something he had to do eventually, he would always choose whether to flee to preserve his life after weighing the stakes. This was the reason he had survived from a thousand years ago to the modern day.
So, it was decided... he was escaping!!!
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